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HeyGen vs Runway

A feature-by-feature comparison of HeyGen and Runway across 7 capability categories.

First tool

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Second tool

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Modalities — Tie

Modalities: HeyGen compared with Runway
Feature	HeyGen	Runway
Text Input	Yes. Text prompting is the primary interface.	Yes. Text prompting is the primary interface.
Image Upload / Vision	Yes. Upload a photo or footage to create an avatar.	Yes. Image-to-video and reference images for style.
Image Generation	No. Does not generate still images.	No. Does not generate still images.
Voice Mode	No. No voice interface.	No. No voice interface.
Video Understanding	Partial. Uploaded video is used for translation and lip-sync, not analysis.	Partial. Video is uploaded for editing tools such as inpainting, not for question answering.
Video Generation	Yes, requires plus plan. Avatar and stock-to-video generation from a script.	Yes, requires plus plan. Gen-3 / Gen-4 text-to-video and image-to-video in the web studio.
File Upload (PDF, DOCX)	Partial. Scripts and media, not general documents.	Partial. Media uploads only, not documents.
Code Execution	No. Not a code tool.	No. Not a code tool.
Audio Input	Yes. Upload a voice recording to clone or drive an avatar.	No. No audio input.
Canvas / Artifact Editor	No. No canvas or artifact panel.	Yes. Timeline and canvas editor for composing generations.
Screen Sharing / Computer Use	No. No computer-use capability.	No. No computer-use capability.

Memory & Context — Tie

Memory & Context: HeyGen compared with Runway
Feature	HeyGen	Runway
Persistent Memory	No. No cross-session memory of the user.	No. No cross-session memory of the user.
Large Context Window	No. Not a language model, so this does not apply.	No. Not a language model, so this does not apply.
Custom Instructions	No. No global instruction setting.	No. No global instruction setting.
Conversation History	No. Not a chat product, so there is no conversation to configure.	No. Not a chat product, so there is no conversation to configure.

Integrations — HeyGen Wins

Integrations: HeyGen compared with Runway
Feature	HeyGen	Runway
Web Search / Browsing	No. No browsing capability.	No. No browsing capability.
Plugins / Extensions	No. No plugin marketplace.	No. No plugin marketplace.
API Access	Yes. Video generation API for developers.	Yes. Video generation API for developers.
Zapier Integration	Yes. Official Zapier integration.	Unknown. Not confirmed either way.
Custom GPTs / Bots	No. No agent or bot builder.	No. No agent or bot builder.
Real-time Collaboration	Yes. Shared team workspaces on paid plans.	Yes. Shared team workspaces.
Live Social Data Integration
Live Citation Mapping

Developer — Tie

Developer: HeyGen compared with Runway
Feature	HeyGen	Runway
Function Calling	No. No tool-calling interface.	No. No tool-calling interface.
Streaming Responses	No. Generations are returned complete, not streamed token by token.	No. Generations are returned complete, not streamed token by token.
Fine-Tuning	Partial. Custom avatars and cloned voices, not model fine-tuning.	Partial. Custom style and character training on paid tiers.
Embeddings API	No. No embeddings endpoint.	No. No embeddings endpoint.
Structured Output (JSON)	No. Not a language model, so this does not apply.	No. Not a language model, so this does not apply.
Reasoning / Thinking Mode	No. Not a reasoning model.	No. Not a reasoning model.
Local Execution
Open Weights
Multi-Agent Orchestration

Platforms — Runway Wins

Platforms: HeyGen compared with Runway
Feature	HeyGen	Runway
Web App	Yes. Browser-based; no install required.	Yes. Browser-based; no install required.
iOS App	No. No native mobile app; the web app runs in a mobile browser.	Yes. Native iOS app.
Android App	No. No native mobile app; the web app runs in a mobile browser.	No. No native mobile app; the web app runs in a mobile browser.
Desktop App	No. Browser only.	No. Browser only.
Chrome Extension	No. No official browser extension.	No. No official browser extension.

Privacy — Tie

Privacy: HeyGen compared with Runway
Feature	HeyGen	Runway
GDPR Compliant	Yes. HeyGen publishes a DPA and serves EU customers.	Yes. Runway publishes a DPA and serves EU customers.
Opt Out of Data Training	Unknown. Needs a read of the current policy before we assert this.	Unknown. Needs a read of the current policy before we assert this.
Enterprise Privacy Mode	Yes, requires enterprise plan. Enterprise tier with SSO and custom retention.	Yes, requires enterprise plan. Enterprise tier with SSO and custom data terms.

Workspaces — Tie

Workspaces: HeyGen compared with Runway
Feature	HeyGen	Runway
Projects / Folders	Yes. Videos are organised into projects and folders.	Yes. Assets and sessions are organised per project.